Systems and methods for automatic inventory and DNS record generation

ABSTRACT

Aspects of the present disclosure include systems and methods for automatically scanning a network for network devices, retrieving and storing device information associated with any identified network devices, and updating records of a DNS based on the retrieved device information. The updated records of the DNS may include the IP address of a given network device and a device name that is automatically generated from the retrieved device information using a set of naming rules applied to the device information. Accordingly, subsequent queries including the device names may be submitted to the DNS to retrieve the corresponding IP addresses. The resulting device names generated by applying the naming rules may be based on, among other things, logical or physical properties of the network devices.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to tools tofacilitate network management and monitoring and, more particularly, tosystems and methods for automatically updating an inventory of networkdevices within a network and domain name system (DNS) records tofacilitate improved access to the network devices.

BACKGROUND

Telecommunication may include a numerous interconnected network devicesfor providing various network-related functions including, withoutlimitation, routing, filtering, network interconnection, switching,bridging, signal repeating, multiplexing, demultiplexing, and the like.Management of the devices of the network is often conducted by amanagement team or administrator of the network operating in a networkmanagement center. The network management center may include computingdevices that monitor for alarms or other performance indicators fromdevices within the network and troubleshoot issues that may arise tokeep the network performing as needed.

As networks continue to expand and more devices are utilized within thenetwork, management of the devices of the network has become difficultand time-consuming. To aid in managing the network, a complete andaccurate inventory of the network devices may be obtained and maintainedfor use by administrators or devices of the network management center.In addition, the information stored in the network inventory may bedifficult to parse through to find the necessary information when analarm in the network is detected, especially for large networks. Thus, amethod of parsing the information of the inventory to quickly andintuitively access network devices to obtain device information, tocheck device status, to provide software and firmware updates, toreconfigure the devices, and to perform other similar tasks is similarlyimportant to maintaining network operation and health.

It is with these observations in mind, among many others, that aspectsof the present disclosure were conceived and developed.

SUMMARY

One implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of anetwork management system comprising a network management devicecomprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readable mediumstoring instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause thenetwork management device to execute operations. Such operations mayinclude receiving, in response to transmitting a plurality of requestsfor response, a response from a responding network device of a network,wherein each request of the plurality of requests for response comprisesa destination address included in a range of Internet Protocol (IP)addresses associated with the network and transmitting, based on theresponse from the responding network device, a request for informationassociated with the responding network device. The operations may alsoinclude generating a unique device name for the responding networkdevice, and updating a domain name server (DNS) server with a DNS recordassociated with the responding network device, the DNS record comprisingthe unique device name and an IP address associated with the respondingnetwork device.

Another implementation of the present disclosure may take the form of amethod of managing a telecommunications network. The method may includethe operations of accessing, by a network management computing deviceand via a first internet protocol (IP) address of a range of IPaddresses, device information associated with a network device of anetwork, the range of IP addresses associated with the network andgenerating, via one or more instructions for configuring a device name,at least one unique device name for the network device. The method mayalso include the operations of updating a domain name system (DNS)server to include a record for the network device, the record includingthe first IP address of the device and the unique device name andtransmitting, to the DNS server, a DNS request to retrieve the IPaddress of the network device, the request comprising the unique devicename of the network device.

Yet another implementation of the present disclosure may take the formof a communications network comprising a networking device addressablevia a first Internet Protocol (IP) address and a network managementdevice. The network management device may be configured to receive, inresponse to transmitting a plurality of requests for response, aresponse from the networking device, wherein each request of theplurality of requests for response comprises a destination addressincluded in a range of IP addresses associated with a network, the firstIP address of the range of IP addresses and transmit, to the networkingdevice and addressed via the first IP address, a request for deviceinformation. The network management device may further be configured togenerate, via an instruction for configuring a device name and inresponse to receiving information from the networking device in responseto the request for device information, at least one unique device namefor the networking device, transmit, via an Application ProgrammingInterface (API) and to a Domain Name System (DNS) server, a DNS recordcomprising the first IP address and the at least one unique device namefor the networking device, and transmit, to the DNS server, a DNSrequest to retrieve the first IP address of the networking device, theDNS request comprising the unique device name of the networking device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary Internet Protocol(IP) operating environment in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2A is an example network environment including automatic inventoryand domain name system (DNS) record generation functionality inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 2B is an example network environment for communicating with one ormore network devices over an out-of-band device in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 3 is a method for automatically generating an inventory of networkdevices in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a method for automatically generating an inventory ofout-of-band network devices associated with a network in accordance withone embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a method for generating one or more DNS records for deviceinformation stored in a network inventory in accordance with oneembodiment.

FIG. 6 is a network management computing system for a telecommunicationsnetwork in accordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a method for utilizing one or more DNS records for deviceinformation stored in a network inventory to access a network device inaccordance with one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computing system whichmay be used in implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the present disclosure include systems and methods formaintaining an inventory of network devices within a network, managingInternet Protocol (IP) addresses of the network through a Domain NameSystem (DNS) architecture, and using the inventory and DNS records tofacilitate fast and easy access to those devices. More specifically,this disclosure provides systems and methods for automatically scanninga network for network devices, retrieving and storing device informationassociated with any identified network devices, and updating records ofa DNS based on the retrieved device information. Among other things, theupdated records of the DNS may include the IP address of a given networkdevice and a device name that is automatically generated from theretrieved device information using a set of naming rules applied to thedevice information. Accordingly, subsequent queries including the devicenames may be submitted to the DNS to retrieve the corresponding IPaddresses. The resulting device names generated by applying the namingrules may be based on, among other things, logical or physicalproperties of the network devices. As a result, the device names may berelatively intuitive for operators, technicians, engineers, and otherpersonnel to use (particularly as compared to IP addresses or othersimilar identifiers) when accessing to the network devices, developingscripts for performing various functions within the network, orperforming similar tasks.

In FIG. 1, a typical telecommunications network configuration 100 isshown from which an inventory of network devices and information may bestored in an inventory and used to generate one or more DNS recordsassociated with the network inventory. In particular, FIG. 1 is aschematic diagram illustrating an exemplary Voice over Internet Protocol(VoIP) operating environment 100 in accordance with one embodiment ofthe present disclosure. In general, the environment 100 provides forestablishing communication sessions between network users and/or forproviding one or more network services to network users. For example, acustomer to the network 100 may request a Virtual Private Network (VPN)service to one or more endpoints through the operating environment 100,may request Internet access, may utilize a communication device tocommunicate with another communication device connected to the network102, and the like. In one implementation, the environment 100 mayinclude a VoIP network 102, which may be provided by a wholesale networkservice provider to provide for the routing of communications betweenend points or devices. While the environment 100 of FIG. 1 shows aconfiguration using the VoIP network 102; it should be appreciated thatportions of the network may also include non IP-based routing. Forexample, network 102 may include devices utilizing time divisionmultiplexing (TDM) or plain old telephone service (POTS) switching. Ingeneral, the network 102 of FIG. 1 may include any communication networkdevices known or hereafter developed.

The VoIP network 102 includes numerous components such as, but notlimited to, gateways, routers, servers, and registrars, which enablecommunication and/or provides services across the VoIP network 102. Insome instances, the network 102 may provide for interaction andcommunication between the VoIP network 102 and other entities, such asthe one or more customer home or business local area networks (LANs) 108and the Internet 114 to provide access to the Internet by users of thecustomer network 108.

Customer network 108 can include communication devices such as, but notlimited to, a personal computer or a telephone 110 connected to arouter/firewall 112. Although shown in FIG. 1 as computer 110, thecommunication devices of the customer home network 108 may include anytype of communication device that receives a multimedia signal, such asan audio, video or web-based signal, and presents that signal for use bya user of the communication device. The communication and networkingcomponents of the customer network 108 enable a user at the customernetwork to communicate via the VoIP network 102 to other communicationdevices, such as another customer 104 via network 120. Access to theInternet may also be provided through the network 102. Components of thecustomer network 108 are typically home- or business-based, but they canbe relocated and may be designed for easy portability. For example, thecommunication device 110 may be wireless (e.g., cellular) telephone,smart phone, tablet or portable laptop computer.

In some instances, the customer network 108 may connect to the VoIPnetwork 102 via a border network 116, such as one provided by anInternet Service Provider (ISP). The border network 116 is typicallyprovided and maintained by a business or organization such as a localtelephone company or cable company. The border network 116 may providenetwork/communication-related services to their customers via the IPnetwork 102. In contrast, communication device 104 and or communicationdevice 106 may access, and be accessed by, the VoIP network 102 via apublic switched telephone network (PSTN) 120 operated by a localexchange carrier (LEC) and connected to the network 102 through edgedevice 122. In still other embodiments, the customer network 130 mayconnect directly to the network 102. Communication via any of thenetworks can be wired, wireless, or any combination thereof. For ease ofinstruction, only three communication devices 104, 106, 110 are showncommunicating with the VoIP network 102; however, numerous such devices,and other devices, may be connected with the network, which is equippedto handle enormous numbers of simultaneous calls and/or other IP-basedcommunications.

An operator of the VoIP network 102 may configure the network in anymanner to facilitate the routing of communications through the networkto connect communication devices and/or provide services to thecustomers of the network. For example, the network 102 may include aseries of interconnected networking devices, such as routers andswitches within the network 102 that receive a communication, analyzethe communication to determine a destination device, and route thecommunication to a connected networking device to get the communicationcloser to a destination or egress point. Such devices may include anyphysical or logical component of the network 102 utilized to providetelecommunication services to a customer. For example, a network 102 mayprovide a transmission route between provider edge 118 and provider edge124 to connect the customer network 108 to the Internet 114.Configuration of the network 102 thus supports the routing of packets orcommunications between the various networks, devices, and customersconnected to the network.

As mentioned above, an administrator may manage the devices andoperation of the network 102. In one example, a network control centermay be included in or in communication with the network 102 to monitorthe status of one or more of the network devices and configure thenetwork as needed to provide services to the customers of the network.To communicate with the various devices, the network 102 may include amanagement layer network that connects each of the devices to thenetwork control center such that a devices within or associated with thenetwork control center may communicate with the devices of the networkto obtain information, status, alarms, and the like from the networkdevices. Further, a network management system 126 may be connected to orotherwise in communication with the network to aid in the management ofthe network devices. Although shown in FIG. 1 as separate from network102, the network management system 126 may, in some instances, belogically located within the network 102. In still other instances, thenetwork management system 126 may connect to the management network (ornetwork 102) through any connection to the network, such as through theInternet 114 or through a provider edge device. The operations of thenetwork management system 126 to automatically generate a network deviceinventory and domain name system (DNS) records of such devices isdescribed in more detail below.

FIG. 2A is a schematic illustration of a network environment 200including a system for generating and maintaining a network deviceinventory and corresponding domain name system (DNS) records foraccessing the network devices of the inventory. The network environment200 includes several components of the network environment 100 describedabove. For example, the network environment 200 may include a network102 including multiple network devices 204-210 for providing variousnetwork-related functions. Each network device 204-210 may correspond toa physical device or may be a virtual instance of a physical deviceimplemented in software to provide the services of the network 102 toone or more customers of the network.

Network devices 204-210 within the network 102 may include, amongothers, one or more edge devices (such as network device 210) tofacilitate connection to and communication with external networks 116.In addition, the network 102 may include one or more connectedsubnetworks, such as subnetworks 212 and 214. Each of such subnetworks212-214 may include a respective collection of computing and networkdevices and may be connected to one or more networking devices (such asnetwork device 204 for subnetwork 212 and network device 206 forsubnetwork 214) for facilitating communication between devices of thesubnetwork and other portions of the network 102, including othersubnetworks. Each network device may also be connected to one or moreother devices. For example, network device 208 is connected to devices216A-216N, to facilitate communication between devices 216A-216N and/orbetween devices 216A-216N and other devices within the networkenvironment 100.

To facilitate communications and routing of packets within the network102, each network device 204-210 may be assigned one or more uniqueInternet Protocol (IP) addresses that identifies the device to otherdevices. In some instances, each port of a network device may beassigned an IP address. In general, every networking device thatcommunicates with other networking device, whether within network 102 orwithin other networks, may be accessed via a unique IP address for thatdevice. In some instances, each network device 204-210 may be assignedat least one of an Internet Protocol (IP) version 4 (IPv4) or an IPversion 6 (IPv6) address. For purposes of the present disclosure,reference to an IP address should be understood to refer to one or bothof an IPv4 address and an IPv6 address.

As discussed above, one or more of the network devices 204-210 mayconnect to an internal communications network, referred to herein as themanagement network 202. The management network 202 is a portion of thenetwork 102 that is utilized by a management center or managementdevices to connect to or otherwise communicate with the network devices204-210. The communications transmitted over the management network 202may include configuration commands to configure the network devices204-210, alarms generated during operation of the devices, requests fordevice status from the operations center and responses from the networkdevices 204-210, and other communications that provide for themanagement and configuration control of the devices of the network 102.The network devices 204-210 may also be accessed through other networks,such as the Internet, discussed in more detail below.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, the network environment 200 may furtherinclude the network management system 126 configured to scan the network102 to identify and retrieve information from the network devices204-210. To facilitate such functionality, the network management system126 may include one or more network management computing devices 218capable of connecting to the management network 202 (or other network)and communicating with the network devices 204-210. An inventory datacollection 220, which may, for example, be in the form of one or moreconnected databases and/or data tables, may be included in or otherwisein communication with the network management system 126 to storeinformation obtained from the network devices 204-210. The process bywhich the network management system 126 obtains and stores networkdevice information is described in more detail below.

The network environment 200 may also include a domain name system (DNS)hosting system 222 for providing DNS functionality related to thenetwork 102. The DNS hosting system 222 generally includes one or moreDNS servers 224 in communication with a collection of stored DNS records226. The DNS records 226 may be stored within the DNS server 224 or maybe separate from the server. Further, the DNS hosting system 222 may, insome instances, include a plurality of DNS servers 224 arranged in ahierarchical arrangement. The DNS hosting system 222 may be further bemanaged by a network administrator or may be managed by a third party.In general, the DNS records 226 include, among other things, recordscorrelating domain names to addresses (e.g., A records for IPv4addresses and AAAA records for IPv6 addresses) and records for aliasingone domain name to another (e.g., CNAME records). The DNS server 224 isgenerally configured to, among other things, receive and execute DNSqueries including domain names against the DNS records 226 and toprovide corresponding address information. The DNS server 224 is furtherconfigured to modify the DNS records 226, such as by adding new recordsor deleting or modifying existing records as new or updated DNSinformation is provided to the DNS server 224. Notably, the multiplenetworked servers of the DNS hosting system 222 may provide, among otherthings, redundant and/or geographically localized DNS functionality.

In addition to communicating with the network devices 204-210 over themanagement network 202, the network management device 218 may alsoconnect to one or more network devices 204-210 through an out-of-bandnetwork device, such as out-of-band terminal server 228, as shown inFIG. 2B. In general, the terminal server 228 provides an out-of-bandconnection (or connection outside the routes established through thenetwork 102) to one or more network devices. In the example shown,network management device 218 connects to network device A 204 andnetwork device B 206 via management network 202 as described above. Inother words, the network management device 218 may communicate andrequest information from network device A 204 and network device B 206by transmitting requests for such information through management network202. Network device A 204 and network device B 206 may include amanagement port (identifiable by an IP address for each port) that isconfigured to receive packets intended for the respective devices frommanagement network 202. In addition, each network device 204-206 mayinclude a console port for interacting or communicating with out-of-banddevices, such as terminal server 228. The terminal server 228 mayconnect to the console ports of network device A 204 and network deviceB 206 through a line connection. In some instances, the terminal server228 may include 24 lines to communicate with 24 separate network deviceswithin a networking site. In the example illustrated, terminal server228 communicates with network device A 204 via line A and with networkdevice B 206 via line B.

Access to the terminal server 228, and thus the network devices 204-206connected to the terminal server, may be accomplished through managementnetwork 202 or an Internet network 114 or other public network. Terminalserver 228 may thus include a management port (identifiable by amanagement IP address) for receiving communications from managementnetwork 202 and an Internet port (identifiable by an IP addressdifferent than the management IP address) for receiving communicationsfrom the Internet network 114. In this manner, network management device218 may communicate with terminal server 228 through either connectionto log into or otherwise communicate with network devices 204-206.

As mentioned above, the network management device 218 may be configuredto scan the network 102 to identify and retrieve information from thenetwork devices 204-210. FIG. 3 is a method 300 for the networkmanagement device 218 to scan the network 102 for network devices204-210 and automatically generate an inventory of network devices inaccordance with one embodiment. In general, the operations of the method300 of FIG. 3 may be performed by the network management device 218 orany other components related to the network 200. The operations may beexecuted through one or more hardware components, one or more softwareprograms, or a combination of both hardware and software components.

Beginning in operation 302, the network management device 218 mayreceive a list, block, or range of IP addresses corresponding to networkdevices 204-210 to be managed by the network management device. In someinstances, each device of the network 102 may include an IP addresswithin a particular range of addresses assigned to the network 102. Therange of IP addresses may include any number of such address and may, insome instances, include multiple ranges of IP addresses such that theaddresses used by the network 102 are not necessarily contiguous. Inother instances, a list of such IP addresses may be obtained, at leastin part, from stored routing information corresponding to the network102. Such information may include, among other things, Border GatewayProtocol (BGP) routing information exchanged between gateways within thenetwork and/or Internal Gateway Protocol (IGP) routing informationexchanged within subnetworks/autonomous systems of the network 102.

In operation 304, the network management device 218 may sweep throughthe received range of IP addresses by transmitting, via the managementnetwork 202, a ping message or other message requesting a response froman associated device. The ping message may request some response from adevice that receives the ping message at the current target IP address.

In operation 306, the network management device 218 determines if aresponse from a device 204-210 is received. For example, the networkmanagement device 218 may select a first IP address and transmit arequest to that address for the receiving device to return a response tothe request. In some instances, there may be no device associated withthe IP address such that the ping message is not received at a device.If no response is received, the network management device 218 maydetermine if all IP addresses of the range of addresses has been scannedin operation 308. If not, the network management device 218 may returnto operation 304 and ping at the next IP address in the range. If noadditional IP addresses remain in the range to be scanned, the networkmanagement device 218 may wait for the next scanning period to begin inoperation 310 and return to the beginning of the method 300. In thismanner, the network management device 218 is configured to scan therange of IP addresses to determine devices connected to the managementnetwork 202 and included in the IP network 102. In some instances, thenetwork management device 218 may be configured to scan through therange of IP addresses for the connected devices daily, monthly, hourly,etc. In general, the scanning period may be set for any amount of time.

Returning to operation 306, if the network management device 218receives a response from a network device 204-210, the management devicemay investigate further to determine the type and condition of theresponding device. In some examples, the response from the device at theIP address may include some identification of the device or may includean indication that the device is present and connected to the network.In operation 312, the network management device 218 may attempt tofurther identify the responding network device 204 by requesting deviceinformation from the network device 204. In one example, the request fordevice information may take the form of a Simple Network ManagementProtocol (SNMP) request for device status and information. Initially,the network management device 218 may request credentials from thenetwork device to determine if the network device is managed by thenetwork management system in operation 314. In some instances, devicesaccessed through the IP address sweep may be connected to the managementnetwork 202 but not managed by the network management system 126, suchas third-party devices within the network 102 and/or devices managed byother entities such that these devices may not return the requestedcredentials. If the discovered device is not managed by the networkmanagement system 126, the network management device 218 may return tooperation 308 to continue scanning the range of IP addresses for manageddevices.

If the network device 204 returns the credentials, the networkmanagement device 218 may determine that the device is managed by thenetwork management system 126. In operation 316, the network managementdevice 218 may then request device information from the network device204 through an additional SNMP command. The SNMP command requests thedevice to return device information and data, such as the IP addressesassociated with the network device (including the IP address of thedevice and all IP addresses of communication ports of the device),current operating software versions, the type of device, a device name,a device model number, a device serial number, connectivity information,and the like. In general, any operating or identifying information ofthe network device 204 may be requested by the network management device218 for inclusion in a network device inventory.

In operation 318, the network management device 218 determines if thecorresponding network inventory 220 includes an entry associated withthe discovered network device 204. For example, the inventory data 220,such as an inventory database, may include entries for each discoverednetwork device 204-210 along with the information obtained about thosedevices. As new devices are added to the network, such devices may bediscovered by the network management device 218 through the IP addresssweep. Thus, if the network management device 218 determines that theinventory data 220 does not include an entry for the discovered networkdevice, the network management device 218 may create such an entry inthe inventory data 220 in operation 322 and associate the deviceinformation received from the device with the entry for that particularnetwork device in the inventory data. If an entry already exists in theinventory data 220, the network management device 218 may compare thereceived network information to the existing entry and, if theinformation has changed, may update the entry in the inventory data 220with the new device information. The network management device 218 maythen return to operation 308 to continue the sweep through the IP rangeto discover other devices and obtain device information.

It should be appreciated that, although described as utilizing SNMPcommands to retrieve device information, other protocols may be usedinstead of or in addition to SNMP to obtain the device information. Forexample, in certain implementations, Link Layer Discovery Protocol(LLDP) sessions with the network devices 204-210 may be used to obtaindevice information instead of or in addition to SNMP sessions. Notably,information obtained through an LLDP session may be used to obtaintopology information regarding a given network device.

In some instances, the network device that is discovered through themethod 300 described above may be an out-of-band device, such as aterminal server 228. When an out-of-band device 228 is discovered andidentified through the information retrieved from the network device,the network management device 218 may further execute one or more of theoperations of the method 400 of FIG. 4. In particular, FIG. 4 is amethod 400 for automatically generating an inventory of out-of-bandnetwork devices associated with a network in accordance with oneembodiment. Similar to the method 300 discussed above, the operations ofthe method 400 of FIG. 4 may be executed by the network managementdevice 218 through hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

Beginning on operation 402, the network management device 218 receivesdevice information for an out-of-band (OOB) network device 228, such asa terminal server. The device information may be received in a similarmanner as described above through a scan of the IP addresses associatedwith the network 102. In operation 404, the network management device218 may connect to the OOB device 228 based on the device informationreceived. For example, the device information may include an IP addressof a management port through which communications at the OOB device 228may be received via the management network 202. In operation 406, thenetwork management device 218 may request particular connectivityinformation from the OOB device 228, such as the number of lineconnections and the devices connected to those lines. For example, theterminal server 228 of FIG. 2B may be accessed to determine line A isconnected to network device A 204 and line B is connected to networkdevice B 206. Other OOB device 228 information may also be requested andobtained, such as IP addresses associated with the communication portsof the device, a model and serial number, a software version number,etc.

In operation 408, the network management device 218 may update theinventory data 220 according to the information received from the OOBdevice 228. For example, the network devices 204-206 connected to theOOB device 228 may be stored in the inventory data 220 for use by thenetwork management device 218 for use in accessing such network device204-206. In some instances, a link or other connection between theconnected devices 204-206 and the OOB device 228 may be noted orotherwise included in the inventory data 220. In operation 410, thenetwork management device 218 determines if additional OOB devices arediscovered during the sweep through the IP addresses of the network 102.If more OOB devices are discovered, the network management device 218may return to operation 404 to obtain the device information from thoseadditional OOB devices. If no more OOB devices are discovered, thenetwork management device 218 may wait for the next scanning period inoperation 412 and as described above for additional discovered OOBdevices.

Similar to the list of IP addresses, the network management device 218may obtain information, at least in part, from one or more data sourcesin communication with the network management system 126. For example,the network management device 218 may be communicatively coupled withone or more similar inventory systems or databases maintained by a givennetwork operator, each of which may contain information regarding thenetwork devices 204-210. Accordingly, the network management system 126is not necessarily limited to accessing device data collected by thenetwork management device 218 using the previously discussed method ofinitiating communication sessions with each identified network deviceand retrieving respective device information through each session.

As previously discussed, device information for a particular networkdevice may include information obtainable by interrogating the networkdevice itself. However, device information may further includeinformation regarding the physical and/or logical architecture of thenetwork 102. For example, device information may include, among otherthings, a facility within which the device is located, an instancenumber associated with the device, a rack identifier associated with thelogical rack number within which the device is located, or any othersimilar information regarding the network device's location (physical orlogical) or role within the network 102.

Through method 300 and method 400, an inventory of the network devices204-210 connected to the management network 202 and managed by thenetwork management device 218 is generated and stored in the inventorydata 220. Returning to FIG. 2A, these methods 300, 400 are partiallyillustrated in the network environment 200 through steps 1-3. Once theinventory data 220 is generated or updated, the network managementdevice 218 may generate one or more DNS records corresponding to thenetwork device information in steps 4 and 5 of the network environment200 of FIG. 2A. More particularly, FIG. 5 is a method 500 for generatingone or more DNS records for device information stored in a networkinventory in accordance with one embodiment. Similar to above, one ormore of the operations of the method 500 may be performed by the networkmanagement device 218 through a hardware component or a softwareprogram.

Beginning in operation 502, the network management device 218 maygenerate device names for one or more of the network devices 204-210identified in the scan of the IP addresses and for which deviceinformation was retrieved. For example, while most of the networkdevices 204-210 identified through the IP address scanning process maybe accessed and/or managed by the network management device 218, somenetwork devices may not be managed. For those devices in which thenetwork management device 218 manages, a device name may be generated.In certain implementations, device names may be automatically generatedby applying a collection of rules or logical tests (also known as “thenaming convention”) maintained within or otherwise accessible by thenetwork management device 218 following retrieval of the deviceinformation. For example, the network management device 218 may executea naming algorithm or set of rules that utilizes the device informationas an input to generate the network name for the device based on thedevice information.

In some instances, the naming rules as applied by the network managementdevice 218 may generate a multi-part device name with each partcorresponding to an identifying characteristic of the network device.For example and without limitation, one example device name format mayinclude three parts in the following, hyphen-separated format:<site>-<role>-<instance node>, where <site> is an alphanumeric string orcode for a geographic site where the network device is located, <role>is an alphanumeric string or code identifying the network devicesparticular role (such as “edge”, “router”, “switch” etc.), and <instancenode> is an alphanumeric string or code of an instance number or nodeidentifier assigned to the network device (such as “1A”, “1B”, “A”,etc.). Regarding the <role> field, example roles include, but are notlimited to an out-of-band device, a management device, a spine, an edgeleaf, a host leaf, a core firewall, an edge firewall, an edge router, ora particular type of server, each with a corresponding alphanumericstring that indicates the particular role of the device.

In some instances, the <instance node> field of the device name mayindicate a sub-function of the particular device corresponding to the IPaddresses or interface associated with the network. For example, thenetwork device may include several IP addresses associated withinterfaces of the device, such as communication ports of the device. Inone particular example, a network device may be a router located in aNew York site with a designation of NYC1 and include several VirtualLocal Area Networks (VLANs) hosted by the router, with each VLANassociated with an IP address. The router may also include a managementport associated with a separate IP address. Each of these IP addressesassociated with the device may have a unique generated name. Forexample, the network management device 218 may generate the namesNYC1-router-VLAN.999, NYC1-router-VLAN.998, and NYC1-router-VLAN.997 foreach IP address associated with VLANs of the router and the nameNYC1-router-Management_0 for the IP address associated with themanagement port of the router. Other devices in the same site may beassociated with a similar naming convention, such as NYC1-edge-1A,NYC1-edge-1B, NYC1-switch-A, etc. In still other examples, the generateddevice interface name may include more than three fields. In general,the naming convention provides for a root name that identifies theparticular device and one or more sub-fields that identifies theparticular interface of that device.

The foregoing format for a device/interface name is intended merely asan example that has a hierarchical structure that may be relativelyintuitive for network operators and technicians to work with.Nevertheless, implementations of the present disclosure are not limitedto the foregoing device name/interface format. For example, depending onthe size and complexity of a given network, more or fewer fields may beincluded in the device name/interface format and/or the device/interfacename format may include one or more different fields than those includedin the example. Ultimately, implementations of the present disclosureenable network operators to generate custom rules that may be applied tothe collected device information to automatically generatedevice/interface names in a format specified by the network operator. Asa result, a network operator may adapt the network management device 218to generate network device/interface names that are specificallydesigned for the network maintained by the operator and the particularpractices, conventions, and similar policies adopted by the networkoperator.

In operation 504, the network management device 218 may correspond orassociate the generated interface names with the IP addresses of thenetwork data 220. Using the example above, the network management device218 may associate the generated interface name NYC1-router-VLAN.999 withan IP address associated with that router/port as stored in theinventory data 220. One or more of the IP addresses stored in theinventory data 220 may similarly be associated with a device/interfacename that is generated by the network management device 218. Thecorresponding device/interface name and IP address may form a DNS recordor DNS record information that is based on the network deviceinformation stored in the inventory data 220. For example, in oneimplementation, the network management device 218 may generate one ormore of A records (for devices having an IPv4 address), AAAA records(for devices having an IPv6 address), or CNAME records for each of thenetwork devices/interfaces of the network devices. Alternatively togenerating actual DNS records, the network management device 218 mayinstead generate some or all of the data to be stored in such records.In the case of A and AAAA records, for example, the network managementdevice 218 may generate, for each network device 204-210, a record ordata including, among other things, a hostname and an IP address. Ingeneral, the DNS record generated by the network management device 218correlates an IP address obtained from the network 102 and/or networkdevices through the process described above with a generateddevice/interface name.

In operation 506, the network management device 218 may provide thegenerated interface names and corresponding to a DNS architecture forstorage and access. For example, the network management device 218transmits the generated records or otherwise updates DNS records 226maintained by the DNS hosting system 222. The transmitted DNS recordsmay cause the DNS hosting system 222 to add a new DNS record to thestored DNS records 226, or update or delete an existing DNS record. Forexample, if a particular IP address is no longer utilized in the networkdevices 204-210, a DNS record corresponding to that IP address may beremoved. Similarly, if a network device is removed from the networkarchitecture, the corresponding DNS records of that device may beremoved from the DNS records 226. Once updated in this manner, the DNSserver 224 of the DNS hosting system 222 may be queried by the networkmanagement device 218 with the generated interface name to quicklyreceive the corresponding IP addresses for accessing correspondingnetwork devices. For example, the network management device 218 (or auser of the network management device 218) may provide an interface nameto the DNS server 224. The DNS server 224 may, through execution of DNSlookup algorithms, obtain an IP address corresponding with the providedname from the DNS records 226. The DNS server 224 may then return the IPaddress to the network management device 218 in response to the provideinterface name. In this manner, the IP addresses of the interfaces ofthe network devices 204-210 may be accessed quickly through the DNShosting system 222 in a similar manner as other DNS requests. Such DNSqueries from the network management device 218 may be implemented, forexample, in one or more devices or tools for facilitating management,maintenance, supervision, and operation of the network 102 in whichaccess to one or more of the network devices 204-210 may be used.

In operation 508, the network management device 218 may determine if theentries in the inventory data 220 that are associated with an IP addresshave been provided to the DNS hosting system 222 for storage andretrieval. If not, the network management device 218 may return tooperation 502 to continue generating DNS records for the interfaces inthe inventory data 220. If no additional records are to be sent to theDNS hosting system 222, the network management device 218 may wait forthe next scanning period in operation 510 when additional networkinformation may be stored and new or updated DNS information may beprovided to the DNS hosting system 222. In this manner, the networkmanagement device 218 may correlate generated device/interface names ofthe network devices 204-210 with the corresponding IP addresses for thedevice/interface and provide such records to the DNS hosting system 222for use in quickly obtaining the IP addresses of the network devices204-210.

FIG. 6 is a network management device 218 for a telecommunicationsnetwork in accordance with one embodiment. The network management device218 of FIG. 6 may include and execute a network management application610 to perform one or more of the operations described above. Thenetwork management application 610 may be stored in a computer readablemedia 602 (e.g., memory) and executed on a processing system 604 of thenetwork management device 218 or other type of computing system, such asthat described below. For example, the network management application610 may include instructions that may be executed in an operating systemenvironment, such as a Microsoft Windows™ operating system, a Linuxoperating system, or a UNIX operating system environment. The computerreadable medium 602 includes volatile media, nonvolatile media,removable media, non-removable media, and/or another available medium.By way of example and not limitation, non-transitory computer readablemedium 602 comprises computer storage media, such as non-transientstorage memory, volatile media, nonvolatile media, removable media,and/or non-removable media implemented in a method or technology forstorage of information, such as computer readable instructions, datastructures, programs, or other data.

According to one embodiment, the network management device 218 alsoprovides a user interface (e.g., a command line interface (CLI), agraphical user interface (GUI), etc.) 606 displayed on a display, suchas a computer monitor, for displaying data. Through the user interface606, a user of the network management device 218 may provide customerinput 630 through one or more input devices. The customer input 630 maybe used by the network management device 218 to, among other things,provide the range of IP addresses for the network devices 204-210 usedto sweep through the network, provide one or more naming conventions,select a particular device to retrieve information about the device fromthe inventory data 220, provide a DNS request to the DNS hosting system222, and the like. The input device for providing the customer input 630may include, among others, a keyboard or a pointing device (e.g., amouse, trackball, pen, or touch screen) to enter data into or interactwith the user interface 606.

In one example, the user interface 606 may communicate with othercomponents in the network management application 610 to receive userinput for manipulating or otherwise modifying the operation of thenetwork management application. For example, user interface controller612 may communicate with user interface 606 to receive customer input630 for use by the network management application 610. The userinterface controller 612 may also provide information to for display viathe user interface 606, such as components and services included in thenetwork infrastructure associated with a customer or user of the networkmanagement system 600.

The network management application 610 may also utilize a data source608 of the computer readable media 602 for storage of data andinformation associated with the network management system 600. Forexample, the network management application 610 may store the receivedIP address range of the network devices 204-210, store the namingconvention algorithm or other information associated with generating aninterface name, and the like. In general, any data or informationutilized by the network management application 610 may be stored and/orretrieved via the data source 608.

The network management application 610 may include several aspects toperform one or more of the operations described herein. For example, anetwork IP address sweeper 614 may be included that is configured tosweep through the provided IP address range or ranges of the networkdevices 204-210 and transmit one or more requests 624 for deviceinformation from discovered devices. Further, an inventory interface 616may be included in the network management application 610 that providesinformation 626 received from network devices 204-210 to an inventorystorage device or devices. The inventory interface 616 may also requestand receive network information stored in the inventory data 220 toprovide in the user interface 606 based on one or more inputs 630provided by a user of the interface 606. For example, a user mayrequest, via the user interface 606, information associated with anetwork device 204 which may trigger the inventory interface 616 torequest and receive such information.

The network management application 610 may also include adevice/interface name generator 618 configured to execute a namingalgorithm to generate a name corresponding to one or more interfaces ofthe network devices 204-210 as stored in the inventory data 220. Thenaming convention executed by the interface name generator 618 may besimilar to that as described above. The interface name generator 618 mayprovide the generated names to the inventory interface 616 for storagein the inventory data 220, in some instances. The network managementapplication 610 may also include a DNS interface 620 for communicatingwith the DNS hosting system 222 to provide the generated DNS records 628(corresponding generated names and interface IP addresses) to the DNShosting system 222 for storage. As explained in more detail below, theDNS records 628 may aid the network management device 218 (or a user ofthe network management device 218) in accessing network devices 204-210to manage the network 102.

FIG. 7 is a method 700 for utilizing one or more DNS records for deviceinformation stored in a network inventory to access a network device inaccordance with one embodiment. Similar to the methods above, theoperations of the method 700 of FIG. 7 may be performed by networkmanagement device 218, through hardware components, software programs,or a combination of hardware and software components. In some instances,the operations of the method 700 may begin in response to one or moreinputs provided to the network management device 218 from a user of thedevice, such as through a user interface 606.

Beginning in operation 702, the network management device 218 mayreceive a device/interface name from a device monitoring the network orfrom a user via an input to the user interface. For example, the networkmanagement system 126 may include a device that monitors the networkdevices 204-210 to changes in operating status of the devices. In someinstances, a change in operating status may generate an alarm that istransmitted to the monitoring device. A change in operating status mayinclude the device losing connectivity to the network, the devicerebooting, receiving an alarm from a connected device that may beforwarded to the monitoring device, and the like. In some instances, thealarm received from the device may include the generated device nameand/or interface on which the alarm condition is detected. In stillother instances, the operations center of the network 102 may receive anindication of change in operating status of a device with littleinformation about the nature of the change in status. In theseinstances, a user of the network management device 218 may attempt tolog into the affected device to obtain more information about theaffected device. Thus, the user may provide the device/interface name tothe network management device 218, such as through a command line of theuser interface 606. The user, in this example, may be aware of a genericnaming convention of the network 102 such that manually generating thedevice/interface name may be a simple process for the user toaccomplish. Regardless of whether the device/interface name is receivedfrom a monitoring device or a user, it is often beneficial toinvestigate any generated alarm in the network to ensure proper andspeedy operation of the network 102. In this manner, the networkmanagement device 218 may aid the monitoring device or user in obtainingadditional information from the network 102.

In operation 704, the network management device 218 may generate a DNSrequest to the DNS hosting system 222 and provide the receiveddevice/interface name in the request. The DNS hosting system 222 mayresolve the device/interface name to an IP address and return the IPaddress to the requesting device, i.e., the network management device218. Through the operations above, the DNS hosting system 222 mayinclude a DNS record associated with the device/interface name such thatone or more IP addresses may be obtained from the DNS hosting system222. In operation 706, the network management device 218 receives thecorresponding IP address to the device/interface name from the DNShosting system 222.

With the IP address of the device/interface received, the networkmanagement device 218 may attempt to log into the device/interfaceassociated with the received alarm in operation 708. In particular, thenetwork management device 218 may receive the device/interface name(from the monitoring device or from the user) and substitute in thecorresponding IP address for the device/interface. Thus, the user ormonitoring device may not be familiar or otherwise know the IP addressfor the target device/interface. Rather, the user or monitoring devicemay simply provide the device/interface name, as determined by thenaming convention, and the corresponding IP address may be automaticallypopulated into the network management device 218 as received from theDNS hosting system 222. Further, because the DNS records 226 of thenetwork 102 are discovered, generated, and provided by the networkmanagement device 218 from the sweep of the network devices 204-210, theDNS records may be up-to-date to the current network topology andconnectivity. The automatic generation of the IP address of anydevice/interface of the network 102 may remove the need for manuallook-up of such addresses and improve the speed and accuracy of thenetwork management.

In some instances, the device/interface is not accessible through the IPaddress due to one or more network issues preventing connection to thedevice through the management portal of the device. The networkmanagement device 218 may, in such instances, the network managementdevice 218 may log into the device through an OOB connection with thedevice. For example, the network management device 218 may attempt tolog into the device through a terminal server 228, either through themanagement port or the Internet port of the terminal server. OOB log-inby the network management device 218 may occur if the network device 204is rebooting or otherwise not processing received communications. Bylogging into the device through an OOB device, the status of anotherwise unresponsive device may be determined or received. The IPaddress for connecting to network devices through an OOB device 228 maysimilarly be obtained through a DNS request to the DNS hosting system222. For example, the network management device 218 may attempt to loginto the device through the received IP address for the device/interfacereceived from the DNS hosting system 222. If the log-in is unsuccessful,such as through a time-out procedure, the network management device 218may obtain OOB information for the device from the inventory data 220,such as which terminal server 228 and which line of the terminal serverto which the network device 204 is connected. The network managementdevice 218, or a user of the network management device 218, may generatea name/interface request to the DNS hosting system 222 to access theterminal server and/or the line of the terminal server to access theaffected network device 204 through the console port of the device. Inthis manner, the DNS hosting system 222 may also provide OOB connectioninformation for the target network device.

In operation 710, the network management device 218 may retrieveinformation, such as a status of the device, information concerning areceived alarm, status of other devices connected to the device, routingtables stored at the device, etc. In general, the information providedto the network management device 218 may aid in the management andconfiguration of the network 102 and network devices 204-210. Forexample, the network management device 218 may, during operation of thenetwork 102, receive an alarm or other indicator of the status of thenetwork 102. A user of the network management device 218 or the networkmanagement device 218 itself may investigate the alarm by logging intothe device that provided the alarm or another device associated with thealarm. Through the operations above, the network management device 218or user may not need to know the various IP addresses of the devices atissue to use to log into those devices remotely. Rather, the user ornetwork management device 218 may provide the name of the target device(based on the naming convention) into the network management device 218.The network management device 218 may then provide the device name tothe DNS hosting system 222 to resolve the name into an IP address of thedevice or interface at issue. The IP address may be utilized to log intothe device, transmit a request for information to the device, or anyother method to obtain status and operational information from thetarget device/interface. With the obtained information, the user ornetwork management device 218 may respond to the alarm through anynetwork management or configuration commands.

In some instances, the DNS records 226 may be used to trace a paththrough the network 102 without knowing each IP address of the devicesalong the path. Rather, the user or network management device 218 mayaccess a first network device (using the name of the device) and obtainrouting information or tables from that device. An analysis of therouting tables may provide the network management device 218 with one ormore other devices connected to the target device. With those otherdevices known, a user or the network management device 218 may accessone of the other devices (through the same procedure as above using aname of the device), continuing along a path through the network 102.Thus, a user or network management device 218 may trace a path throughthe network 102, accessing devices along the path, to determine anyissues or problems of devices/interfaces along a routing path.

In addition to accessing the device through a management portal, thenetwork management device 218 may also access devices through an OOBdevice 228, as described. Such access may be useful when the managementport cannot be reached due to devices status or network issues.Providing an alternate path to the device to retrieve device informationfurther allows a network administrator access to the devices without theneed to memorize the numerous IP addresses of the network devices.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a computing deviceor computer system 800 which may be used in implementing the embodimentsof the components of the network disclosed above. For example, thecomputing system 800 of FIG. 8 may be the network management system 218discussed above. The computer system (system) includes one or moreprocessors 802-806. Processors 802-806 may include one or more internallevels of cache (not shown) and a bus controller or bus interface unitto direct interaction with the processor bus 812. Processor bus 812,also known as the host bus or the front side bus, may be used to couplethe processors 802-806 with the system interface 814. System interface814 may be connected to the processor bus 812 to interface othercomponents of the system 800 with the processor bus 812. For example,system interface 814 may include a memory controller 814 for interfacinga main memory 816 with the processor bus 812. The main memory 816typically includes one or more memory cards and a control circuit (notshown). System interface 814 may also include an input/output (I/O)interface 820 to interface one or more I/O bridges or I/O devices withthe processor bus 812. One or more I/O controllers and/or I/O devicesmay be connected with the I/O bus 826, such as I/O controller 828 andI/O device 830, as illustrated.

I/O device 830 may also include an input device (not shown), such as analphanumeric input device, including alphanumeric and other keys forcommunicating information and/or command selections to the processors802-806. Another type of user input device includes cursor control, suchas a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys for communicatingdirection information and command selections to the processors 802-806and for controlling cursor movement on the display device.

System 800 may include a dynamic storage device, referred to as mainmemory 816, or a random access memory (RAM) or other computer-readabledevices coupled to the processor bus 812 for storing information andinstructions to be executed by the processors 802-806. Main memory 816also may be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions by the processors 802-806.System 800 may include a read only memory (ROM) and/or other staticstorage device coupled to the processor bus 812 for storing staticinformation and instructions for the processors 802-806. The system setforth in FIG. 8 is but one possible example of a computer system thatmay employ or be configured in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

According to one embodiment, the above techniques may be performed bycomputer system 800 in response to processor 804 executing one or moresequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 816.These instructions may be read into main memory 816 from anothermachine-readable medium, such as a storage device. Execution of thesequences of instructions contained in main memory 816 may causeprocessors 802-806 to perform the process steps described herein. Inalternative embodiments, circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with the software instructions. Thus, embodiments of thepresent disclosure may include both hardware and software components.

A machine readable medium includes any mechanism for storing ortransmitting information in a form (e.g., software, processingapplication) readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). Such media maytake the form of, but is not limited to, non-volatile media and volatilemedia and may include removable data storage media, non-removable datastorage media, and/or external storage devices made available via awired or wireless network architecture with such computer programproducts, including one or more database management products, web serverproducts, application server products, and/or other additional softwarecomponents. Examples of removable data storage media include CompactDisc Read-Only Memory (CD-ROM), Digital Versatile Disc Read-Only Memory(DVD-ROM), magneto-optical disks, flash drives, and the like. Examplesof non-removable data storage media include internal magnetic harddisks, SSDs, and the like. The one or more memory devices 606 mayinclude volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM),static random access memory (SRAM), etc.) and/or non-volatile memory(e.g., read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.).

Computer program products containing mechanisms to effectuate thesystems and methods in accordance with the presently describedtechnology may reside in main memory 816, which may be referred to asmachine-readable media. It will be appreciated that machine-readablemedia may include any tangible non-transitory medium that is capable ofstoring or encoding instructions to perform any one or more of theoperations of the present disclosure for execution by a machine or thatis capable of storing or encoding data structures and/or modulesutilized by or associated with such instructions. Machine-readable mediamay include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized ordistributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that storethe one or more executable instructions or data structures.

Embodiments of the present disclosure include various steps, which aredescribed in this specification. The steps may be performed by hardwarecomponents or may be embodied in machine-executable instructions, whichmay be used to cause a general-purpose or special-purpose processorprogrammed with the instructions to perform the steps. Alternatively,the steps may be performed by a combination of hardware, software and/orfirmware.

Various modifications and additions can be made to the exemplaryembodiments discussed without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. For example, while the embodiments described above refer toparticular features, the scope of this invention also includesembodiments having different combinations of features and embodimentsthat do not include all of the described features. Accordingly, thescope of the present invention is intended to embrace all suchalternatives, modifications, and variations together with allequivalents thereof.

I claim:
 1. A network management system comprising: a network managementdevice comprising a processor and a non-transitory computer readablemedium storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, causethe network management device to: receive, in response to transmitting aplurality of requests for response, a response from a responding networkdevice of a network, wherein each request of the plurality of requestsfor response comprises a destination address included in a range ofInternet Protocol (IP) addresses associated with the network; transmit,based on the response from the responding network device, a request forinformation associated with the responding network device; generate aunique device name for the responding network device; update a domainname system (DNS) server with a DNS record associated with theresponding network device, the DNS record comprising the unique devicename and an IP address associated with the responding network device;and receive information associated with an out-of-band (OOB) networkdevice, the OOB network device communicating via a console port of theresponding network device, wherein the network management devicecommunicates with the responding network device via a management portdifferent than the console port.
 2. The network management system ofclaim 1, wherein the network management device is further caused to:receive, via a user interface, an input identifying the unique devicename; and transmit a DNS request to the DNS server for the IP addressassociated with the responding network device, the DNS requestcomprising the unique device name.
 3. The network management system ofclaim 2, wherein the network management device is further caused to:receive, via the DNS server, the IP address associated with theresponding network device; and transmit a communication to theresponding network device in response to an alarm condition associatedwith the responding network device, the communication comprising adestination address field comprising the received IP address.
 4. Thenetwork management system of claim 1, further comprising: a networkdevice inventory database storing device information of components of atelecommunications network, wherein the network management devicefurther stores, in the network device inventory database, theinformation associated with the responding network device.
 5. Thenetwork management system of claim 1, wherein the information associatedwith the responding network device further comprises at least one IPaddresses associated with at least one network device in communicationwith the responding network device.
 6. The network management system ofclaim 1, wherein the information associated with the OOB network devicecomprises an IP address associated with the OOB device and a lineidentifier for communicating via the console port of the respondingnetwork device, and wherein the network management device is furthercaused to: generate a unique device name for the responding networkdevice; and associate the information associated with the OOB devicewith the responding network device.
 7. The network management system ofclaim 1, wherein the unique device name comprises a type of networkdevice and an identifier of a location of the responding network device.8. A method of managing a telecommunications network comprising:accessing, by a network management computing device and via a firstinternet protocol (IP) address of a range of IP addresses, deviceinformation associated with a network device of a network, the range ofIP addresses associated with the network; generating, via an instructionfor configuring a device name, at least one unique device name for thenetwork device; updating a domain name system (DNS) server to include arecord for the network device, the record including the first IP addressof the device and the unique device name; transmitting, to the DNSserver, a DNS request to retrieve the IP address of the network device,the request comprising the unique device name of the network device; andreceiving information associated with an out-of-band (OOB) networkdevice, the OOB network device communicating via a console port of theresponding network device, wherein the network management computingdevice communicates with the responding network device via a managementport different than the console port.
 9. The method of claim 8 furthercomprising: identifying the network device by scanning the range of IPaddresses, wherein scanning the range of IP addresses comprisestransmitting a request for information for at least a portion of therange of IP addresses.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the range ofIP addresses is a predetermined block of IP addresses associated withthe network.
 11. The method of claim 8, further comprising: obtainingthe device information associated with the network device by: initiatinga Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) session with the networkdevice utilizing the first IP address; and requesting the deviceinformation associated with the network device via the SNMP session. 12.The method of claim 11, wherein the device information comprisesverification information of the network device, the method furthercomprising: verifying, via the verification information of the networkdevice, the identity of the network device.
 13. The method of claim 8,wherein the unique device name comprises a networking type of thenetwork device and an identifier of a geographic location of the networkdevice.
 14. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving, viathe DNS, the IP address the IP address of the network device; andauto-populating a user interface with the IP address of the networkdevice, the user interface configured to transmit a communication to thenetwork device in response to an alarm condition associated with thenetwork device.
 15. The method of claim 8, wherein updating the DNSserver to include the record for the network device comprises accessingan application programming interface (API) configured to translatecommunications transmitted to the DNS server.
 16. The method of claim 8,wherein the IP address of the network device is associated with acommunication interface of the network device, the network devicecomprising a plurality of communication interfaces.
 17. A communicationsnetwork comprising: a networking device addressable via a first InternetProtocol (IP) address; a network management device configured to:receive, in response to transmitting a plurality of requests forresponse, a response from the networking device, wherein each request ofthe plurality of requests for response comprises a destination addressincluded in a range of IP addresses associated with a network, the firstIP address of the range of IP addresses; transmit, to the networkingdevice and addressed via the first IP address, a request for deviceinformation; generate, via an instruction for configuring a device nameand in response to receiving information from the networking device inresponse to the request for device information, at least one uniquedevice name for the networking device; transmit, via an ApplicationProgramming Interface (API) and to a Domain Name System (DNS) server, aDNS record comprising the first IP address and the at least one uniquedevice name for the networking device; and transmit, to the DNS server,a DNS request to retrieve the first IP address of the networking device,the DNS request comprising the unique device name of the networkingdevice; and an out-of-band (OOB) networking device addressable via asecond IP address, the OOB networking device communicating via a consoleport of the network device and the network management devicecommunicating with the network device via a management port of thenetwork device, the management port different than the console port. 18.The communications network of claim 17, further comprising: a databasein communication with the network management device, the databasestoring the device information received in response to the request fordevice information.